OROVILLE &GT;&GT; A man accused of stealing a Butte sheriff's patrol vehicle had been released from jail just minutes before making the Monday theft.

Omar Medina Cazares, 39, had been arrested earlier in the day at the Gold Country Casino, 4020 Olive Highway in Oroville, on a charge of being drunk in public, according to Sheriff Kory Honea.

The sheriff said, in keeping with departmental policy, Cazares was released from the jail when he had sobered up at about 7 p.m.

Honea said that within minutes of his release, the suspect allegedly used a large rock to break out the driver's side window of the marked sheriff's vehicle, which was parked in the jail lot in Oroville.

Honea said the deputy who had been driving the vehicle had left the keys in the ignition of the locked SUV. The deputy was carrying a duplicate set of keys at the time.

The sheriff described the officer, whom he did not identify, as a "good deputy who has been around for a while."

He said the deputy "made an error (in leaving the keys in the unit) that this particular suspect took advantage of."

Honea also said there were a shotgun and a rifle, owned by the department, locked next to the driver's seat.

At one point, according to Honea, the alleged auto thief broadcast a request over the car's radio seeking directions on how to release the two weapons.

Honea said nobody responded to the man's broadcast and as far as he knows that was the only time the suspect tried to use the radio.

Other law enforcement agencies took part in the chase that came to an end on Highway 99, between Live Oak and Yuba City in Sutter County, around 8 p.m.

The 30-minute chase reached speeds up to 70 mph and ended after the vehicle's front tires were shredded with spike strips.

Since officers knew the rifle and the shotgun were in the unit, a police dog from one of the agencies, not the Butte County Sheriff's Office, was deployed.

Honea said it was unclear if the animal ever reached the suspect, but Cazares was taken for a medical exam after the arrest. The medical report said the suspect suffered some minor cuts and abrasions, but there was no mention of dog bite wounds, said the sheriff.

Cazares was arrested on charges of auto theft, felony attempting to evade peace officers, burglary, and possession of ammunition by an individual prohibited from having ammunition.

He is currently being held in Butte County Jail in lieu of $95,000 bail.

Honea said it is not standard procedure for his officers to leave keys in the ignition of even locked vehicles. He said there are times when deputies arrive at the scene of a crime, when they might leave the keys in a locked unit because they might have to either move the car or chase a subject when time is important.

The sheriff said the deputy whose vehicle was stolen might have gotten used to this procedure.

As of Tuesday morning, according to Honea, he "put out a directive" to all of his staff to be "diligent" about not leaving keys in their vehicles.

Honea said the suspect is known to the department but he declined to elaborate.

The sheriff did say he had been told Cazares allegedly told security officers at the casino that he was fearful that he could be targeted by local gangs.

Honea said, as far as he knew, the suspect had expressed no such fears to the sheriff's staff, and nothing in the man's record connects him to any gangs.